Would a bad video card....

[Led Zeppelin]

I'm having a similar problem that OLtimrnewbie was having back in March. . When I turn my computer on, it goes through the memory check, detects the disks and drives, then it kicks me to the screen where it says there was a problem detected with Windows and I have to choose one of 5 options: Start windows normally, last known good configuration, or 3 safe mode options. No matter what I choose, it restarts the system, and kicks me back to the screen with the 5 options again. It's just a constant loop.

I don't think I had a virus because I had McAfee running, and I am very careful about what I open. I hadn't reinstalled windows in a little over a year, so I was thinking that maybe I had a conflict somewhere, so I reinstalled. After reinstalling, it seemed to boot fine for a few days, until I installed Norton Antivirus 2005, then I'd start getting the "Bad Pool Caller" and other various blue screens of death again, then I'm right back where I started, not being able to even get into XP.

I'm thinking it's my video card because the fan on it recently started making all kinds of noise (almost like a chainsaw), and I'm noticing horizontal lines on my monitor. But, I'm also thinking it could be a bad stick of memory. But, I wasn't sure if anyone ever heard of a bad video card preventing a bootup to XP Pro. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[sykopath79]

It sounds like you're getting a BSOD sometime during the boot process, hence the reboot and the "We apologize for the inconvenience, but..." message on the upswing.

Next time it's booting, before Windows starts loading, tap F8 until you get the full WinXP boot menu with options like Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, and so forth. See if you have an option on this screen for "Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure", and if you do, select this option and press Enter. This will make Windows stop at the BSOD if you are in fact getting a BSOD. If you don't have that option, or if you have it but it still reboots, then we'll go from there.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

Update: I borrowed a friends spare video card, tossed it in, booted up, and same thing. Wouldn't let me get past the Safe Mode/Start Windows Normally screen. Now since I know this vid card is good (my friend had it in his server), I take my computer apart again, take out one of my sticks of memory (had a 512 and 256, removed the 256 which I bought last year), and moved my sound card to a new PCI slot. This time, my PC fired right up, detected everything, and seemed to be purring right along. I left it on with a few apps running while I watched tv, and it didn't crash.

What's interesting though is that when I tried to start Norton Antivirus 2005, the program said there was an error, and to uninstall and reinstall the program. It even directed me to a Norton site with detailed directions as to go about this process. Every other program I had installed worked fine, except for this.

 

[jmarkos]

I have the EXACT same problem., ( see 'boot & reboot" below). Haven't tried BostonRedSox fix yet but will keep you informed. Could this be a coincidence or a new viral strain?

 

[sykopath79]

My hunch is that the stick of RAM you removed is bad. Bad RAM would definitely cause the issues you've mentioned, would also explain Norton Antivirus saying it's corrupted (bad RAM either prevented it from installing correctly or corrupted the application as it ran later on).

I suggest swapping your RAM sticks (so that you're only running with the one you just removed) and run MemTest86 on that stick. I suspect you will find errors on it.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

sykopath79, what's MemTest86?

jmarkow, in the beginning, I thought it very possibly could've been a new virus, but I'm extremely careful about what I open, and had a firewall and AV running and updated, so it kind of shot down that theory.

I'm agreeing with syk in that it's a bad stick of memory. I think I'm going be my own test pig tonight and try to boot with only that bad stick of memory. If I can't get to XP, looks like we found the culprit.

 

[sykopath79]

I would STRONGLY urge you not to boot into Windows with just the suspect stick of RAM. If it is indeed a bad stick of RAM, it could further corrupt files and possibly corrupt Windows and give you a lot more of a headache to deal with later.

MemTest86+ is a diagnostic program that you boot into that tests your RAM for physical errors. Download it here, use the ISO to make a CD, then boot from that CD to run MemTest86.

You will want to let the test run for several hours to get the best results, so I recommend letting it run overnight, or while you're gone to work for the day, or something.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

Originally posted by: sykopath79
I would STRONGLY urge you not to boot into Windows with just the suspect stick of RAM. If it is indeed a bad stick of RAM, it could further corrupt files and possibly corrupt Windows and give you a lot more of a headache to deal with later.

MemTest86+ is a diagnostic program that you boot into that tests your RAM for physical errors. Download it here, use the ISO to make a CD, then boot from that CD to run MemTest86.

You will want to let the test run for several hours to get the best results, so I recommend letting it run overnight, or while you're gone to work for the day, or something.

Thank you.

 

[mountcarlmore]

your memory might be at fault, but just so you know norton once killed my windows install too. it probably was a bad cd, and some file got corrupted, as it always made it to the desktop and crashed as soon as it started norton, and this happened on the reboot from the installation. your problem is very likely norton if your memory passes memtest.

 

[jmarkos]

I removed the 256K stick of RAM, the machine booted and ran smooth the rest of the evening, (512K still installed). Did not do a thorough Root Cause investigation yet to determine if it's the stick or slot. Thanks syko., "your da man". What would cause RAM to go bad?

 

[Chantitan]

ram goes bad because it overheat or you just got a bad ram from the manufacture.

 

[Led Zeppelin]

Update: Since removing the 256k stick of RAM, I haven't had any problems whatsoever, no blue screens, no problems booting into XP, nothing.

 

[Tu13erhead]

Well, looks like you found the problem.

Go Sox!